See Me Now
by Ali Avian
Summary: I am not small. I am not fragile. No one can ever break me down. This is my story; the story of the young blind girl from District 12 before she got reaped into the second Quarter Quell. You read Maysilee's story, the story of our Games. Now it's my turn to tell one. My name is Ezra Leordan. PREQUEL TO 'May The Odds Be Ever In Your Favor'
1. Nobody Knows Me At All

**So here's a little preview for an upcoming prequel to May The Odds Be Ever In Your Favor. It's going to be much shorter and is in the perspective of Ezra. Hope yall like :)**

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"_And no one can stop me, and no one can touch me. And no one can ever break me down. And no one, no one, will ever harm me."_

My brother joins me in the next verse. _"I'll give it all up for the birds above, I'll give it all up for the stars to shine, I'll give it all up for your soul to see, I'll give it all up so your heart can understand me." _

Miles drapes his arm around my shoulder as we finish the song that we've grown up to together. The evening is perfect- mild but with a refreshing crisp breeze. It feels especially bracing toward my damp tangled mess of hair falling past my shoulders. I suppose I should feel lucky- I'm now officially one of the few girls in District 12 that actually knows how to swim. Miles taught me, even though he said we could get in real trouble for crossing the fence and going to the woods past the District.

"You did great out there, minnow." Miles says in his soothing voice while patting me on the shoulder. "I could have mistaken you for a fish."

I frown. "What?" I say biting my tongue. "Blech!" We share a laugh together.

"Hey, jump on." Miles says. I feel for his crouching back and cling onto my older brother as he races off with me on piggyback.

"Hey! Easy! You've got fragile cargo back here!" I giggle.

"Fragile?" Miles slows down. "Says the girl who always complains how everyone treats you like a baby?"

I loosen my grip on my brother's shoulders allowing myself to drop down as he comes to a hault. "I'm not a baby." I scowl with my arms crossed. "I'm almost ten years old!"

"I know, you are Ezra." Miles says.

"Yeah- but you're the _only _one who treats me fairly."

"And I always will."

"Promise?"

"Of course Ezra. You and me- we're inseparable, okay?"

"Don't….don't ever get reaped, okay?" I whisper out of the blue. I knew he couldn't ever promise me that, so I instead clamped my palm into his and we continued to head toward home, starting up our song again.

"_And no one can ever break me down, and no one no one will ever change me." _

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We managed to sneak back to the District successfully that night, which was a huge relief. What wasn't, was I thought dad's head was going to explode when we came through the door. While I was sent to my room for following along with Miles' 'schemes' and sneaking out with him, my dad had a long talk with my brother. It's not that my dad especially cares that much that we sneak out to the woods, I mean, a lot of people do for hunting and stuff. My dad's more of a 'you're-back-so-late-and-I-thought-something-happened-to-you' kind of guys. A lot of times it's more of the alcohol talking with him. My dad's such a fun and easy-going guy when he's sober, but once he starts drinking he'll find ways to make anything seem like a huge issue.

In my room, I didn't even have to press my ear up to the wall to listen to my dad's argument to Miles. My eyes may not work, but my hearing is dandy, of course. I just lied on the bed and listened. My dad had been completely screaming at first, and I heard a glass break. He swore a lot, but eventually he started to cool down.

"Son- you're seventeen years old. Ever heard the word 'responsibility'? Or do I need to send you back to grammar school?"

"Listen. I'm sorry we're back so late. Ezra's always wanted me to teach her how to swim. I think as a responsible brother and a superb swimmer, it should be me who taught her."

"She doesn't need to know how to swim, god dammit! She could have gotten hurt! What if she drowned, Miles?"

"She's _blind, _dad. Not stupid." Miles growled. "You've got to stop treating her like she can't do anything! She's a smart, talented girl!"

"The problem here is _you_, not your sister. It's always you." My dad said after a pause.

"Well _YOU _are the one who brought her into it!" Miles said getting louder. "Dad- listen to me. You have got to stop drinking. You…you turn into a completely different man when you start up. I know you care about us with all your heart, dad. But if you truly did you would stop with the alcohol. You need to stop dwelling on the past and the future with all of your 'what-ifs', okay? Just focus on _now._"

Suddenly my mother's voice came in play. She must've just walked in through the door coming home from work. "What's going on?" she asked concerned. Silence. "Forrest." she finally said harshly toward my father. "Outside. With me. Now. Miles- go to bed. I've got this." Seconds later I heard the footsteps of my parents walking out the front and the door closing behind them. Then my own door squeaked open. Miles took a seat at the end of the bed next to me.

"Thanks for sticking up for me out there." I said with a smile while gently punching my brother in the arm. Miles took me in a headlock hug.

"Always." he replied. "Mom's probably giving him hell right now. God I hate when he drinks."

"Me too." I nodded.

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**So...I guess this is just a quick preview. It's still a work in progress, and I might not be able to update for awhile (Lots of AP English work to get out of the way! XP ) **


	2. To Every Good There Is A Bad

**2**

I remember the day I met Apollo. It was how you'd say, "love at first sight". Of course, I was scared about meeting him at first. I was only six, and having such a gift as Apollo was foreign to me. It took a long while for my parents to even be able to bring him to me. Guide dogs weren't exactly the norm for kids my age, especially in District 12. I had never met a dog before, and I remember the first time I touched his furry coat. He licked my palm and gave me his paw. I giggled and knew that this dog was going to be my best friend. Who needed eyes when you had such an awesome dog as Apollo? Instantly he and I became one, and we were going everywhere together. Just he and I- he protected me and I promised to protect him. It was a one-on-one deal.

But to everything good that happens, something bad follows. Shortly after Apollo had moved in, he began to shed. And unfortunately God had decided to make my mother and Miles highly allergic to dogs. Their allergies kept getting worse and worse, until one morning Miles woke up with a swelled throat. We had to take him to the healer immediately because he couldn't even breathe. "That dog has got to go." my dad had told me. Instantly I had begun to cry. You might as well have told me to rip my own heart out. I could not fathom the thought of losing him already. Miles and mom felt horrible about it, too. But I knew I couldn't blame them for something I had no control over. That night my dad had tied Apollo outside to the fence, while we all sat in eating dinner. It was the quietest dinner ever. I refused to eat. "It's cold outside. He can't sleep outside." I whimpered to my father.

"He's a dog." My dad snapped. "Animals are supposed to be outside in the first place."

"Why are you being mean to Apollo? He didn't do anything wrong!" I shouted. "It's not his fault!"

"Well he'll be gone by tomorrow, so you won't have to worry about that anymore. I'm sorry sweetie. I'm selling him to the Peacekeepers in the morning."

"You can't do that!" I screeched. "They'll just kill him!" Everyone at the table remained silent as I stood up, tears streaming down my face. I sprinted out the front door into the crisp winter night air, barefoot and all. Apollo softly barked to tell me where he was. I dove to him and quickly untied his leash and told him to run. Grasping the rope, Apollo led me away. I could hear Miles yelling after me.

"EZRA!"

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I snuggled next to Apollo. "_I'm sorry."_ I kept whispering into his coat. "_I'm so sorry."_ I couldn't help but blame myself. If I hadn't been born blind I would never of had to get a guide dog. Who knows what the Peacekeepers were going to do with him. He was _my _dog. He was _my _friend.

Miles didn't find me until about a half-hour or so later. Following our footsteps in the snow must have been hard to follow at night, as Miles says it is harder to 'see in the night'. By the time he found Apollo and me I had frost-bitten feet, and was pretty much asleep. I remember Miles scooping me up in his arms to carry me home. "Everything will be fine." he whispered softly.

The next morning when I woke up, I was in my bed. Apollo was gone. I never even got to say goodbye to him.

"I'm sorry, sweetie." my dad kept apologizing. "We just couldn't keep him. Your mother and Miles were just too allergic for him to stay in the house."

"It's okay." I finally agreed. "Some things just aren't meant to be."


End file.
